Brace Yourself, Life Just Got Complicated
by fromNikiwithLove
Summary: Niki Sorenson and her little sister Ember were just living a normal life; Niki working as a publisher and Ember going to school with her best friends. Best friends who happen to be the children of the Avengers. Then they received a house guest who also happened to be a banished Norse god that is the sworn enemy of their best friends. Really, it's all a little overwhelming.
1. Prologue

Prolog

Niki sighed and leaned back in her chair. Her life was good. She had just finished college and was in the process of finding another job. She wanted something that would put her degree in English Literature to the test. In other words, she wanted a job in publishing. Just as she opened her book to re-read Dracula for the fifteen dozen time, her phone rang.

"Niki Sorenson speaking."

A male voice with authority behind it replied. "Ms. Sorenson, I'm sorry but I have terrible news."

Niki sat up. "Yes? Explain please."

He sighed sadly. "I'm sorry but, your family has all been killed. The plane that they were on malfunctioned and crashed to the ground. The only one who wasn't on the plane was Ember, and she's here, wanting to speak to you."

She almost collapsed. Her family, dead. Ember, her younger sister who was seven years behind her was the only survivor. Her family had explained everything before they left. Ember had a huge game tournament and was supposed to stay home. Niki had work so she had to stay home as well. This would impact her so negatively. It would on both of them. This was not in any way shape or form good. "Ember?! Ember, are you okay?!"

Ember sniffed and answered her sarcastically. "Yeah, I'm perfect! NO! IM NOT!"

"Right, right. Sorry, stupid question. What's going to happen now?"

"Apparently I'm going to live with you now sis."

"Makes since. I'm going to pack up now and move down there okay?"

"Okay. Thanks sis. Oh and sis?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful please."

Niki hung up and sighed. Their lives were going to be completely different now.


	2. Chapter 1

Authors Note: Hello dear readers! This is a collaboration I'm working on with my sister so updates are gonna be iffy at best but please read and review. Niki from my vampire AU is the same but this is more movie-verse, or actually, post-movie-verse and introducing Niki's dear sister Ember. Please let us know what you think!

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Chapter 1

"Ember, come on wake up. It's time for school."

Ember groaned and rolled over in bed, she was not willing to go to school. It was a band day, no, she had no yearning desire to go to school.

" Ember! Come on! Up and at 'em!" Niki soon realized that she could wake up her stubborn little sister and growled. "I have a bucket of cold ice and I'm willing to poor it on you."

With that Ember shot up, blanket falling on her head. "I'm up! I'm up! You don't have to- you don't have a bucket of ice…"

Niki laughed and walked out of the room. "No I don't, but I will if you don't get ready soon. We leave in a few minutes. Get ready!"

Grumbling and changing, Ember was soon ready with her very mid-western style outfit on. Plaid long sleeve shirt with jeans and boots. She ran down the stairs and brushed her teeth and hair and finished getting ready for the long day ahead of her. She grabbed a banana and ate it, waiting for Niki. "Gee, and she was the one telling me to hurry."

"I heard that squirt. It's time to go." Niki said, stepping out, fixing the silver arrow pin on her blue blouse. "Get in the car."

Ember did as she was told and Niki soon followed.

After dropping Ember off at school, Niki made her way to her work at the publishing office. She had managed to nail a job there after moving back to her family's home in the middle of Kansas. Nothing big, but it pays well, and she loved reading anyway.

While she was typing away at her computer in her decently sized office, she heard the muffled clip of heels on the carpeted floor coming her way. Just as she had thought, Niki's boss walked in. She was an average sized lady who had a love of fashion and the glitzy things. Though there was one thing she did hate, children. The one time Ms. Glitz, as Ember refers to her, came over she met Ember and started critizing her. Ember just shrugged it away, even though she looked as if she wanted to slap the lady.

"Niki I have some news for you," Ms. Glitz said, pushing her glasses up onto her nose.

Niki looked at her curiously and nodded. "Do tell please."

"Niki, I spoke with my advisor and he and I agree that you're doing well enough, you deserve a promotion. And with this promotion comes deportation. Your new job is stationed in New York City, New York," she explained. "Sorry for the sudden news, but we thought it would be best."

Niki stood up from her seat, completely surprised. A promotion? And a new home?! In New York?! Heck yeah this is surprising, but it was a slightly needed surprise. She snatched Ms. Glitz hand and shook it a little vigorously. "Oh no! please don't be sorry! It's a welcome surprise. When shall I leave?"

"The end of this week and you're going to receive some money to buy a house or apartment, depends on the value and where it's located. I expect you shall enjoy it. Good bye Ms. Sorenson," she left without another word.

Later that night, Niki was online, browsing through housing in New York. It was tedious work but she finally found one. It was a small farm house surrounded by woods that stretched on for miles and there was a small river going through the property. Perfect. Ember would have fun exploring there and their cat would have fun as well. Niki received approval from Ember who was excited about the news. She wanted to get away from the memories of her family. Painful memories they were, and Niki couldn't blame her sister.

They left at the end of that week. Ember had said good bye to her friends as well as Niki's and the two siblings looked forward to the start of a new life.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It's been a few months since the two sisters moved to New York and Niki was doing incredibly well at her work and she supposed Ember was doing well in school, she hasn't heard her complain. She wasn't worried and even if she was, Ember could fend for herself, the girl's got a mouth…

Niki had been home for a while, reclining in her chair, avoiding work, when her cell phone rang. "Y-ello?"

"Hey Niki?" it was Ember.

"What is it Ember? And whose phone are you using?" Niki asked, Ember didn't have a cell phone because she didn't really need one.

"It's my friend Shadow's. Speaking of friends, can my friends come over and hang out for a bit?"

Niki took a second to think about this. If Ember had friends over, they would distract her from bugging Niki while she was working. Also, Niki could finally meet some of the friends Ember keeps talking about. Well, there were a few upsides. The only downside was that Niki might have to take them home. "Depends, do they need a ride home?"

"No. They already called their parents and cleared it with them. They would pick them up."

"That just made my life ten times easier, go ahead, bring them home."

When the small group of friends came in, Niki felt like she knew them from somewhere.

"Hey Nik!" Ember greeted.

"Hey Em, wanna introduce me to your friends?"

"Oh right! Yeah sure!" Ember pointed to each in order. "This one's Shadow," Shadow was a dark haired girl with a mischievous glint in her dark brown pools for eyes. "Airy," a tall blonde haired girl with blue eyes. "Unity, Elizabeth and Matthew." Unity was another blonde with blue eyes but not quite as tall as Airy. Elizabeth had long black hair, glasses and brown eyes, Matthew had light blue eyes and messy reddish brown hair.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Niki, Ember's older and smarter sister," Niki said with a snicker, shaking the children's hands.

"HEY! Not true!"

"Who's graduated college and is working?"

"Right… point taken! Let's go outside guys! I haven't taken time to explore outside yet and I think we would have fun with that!"

They nodded and followed after Em. Niki sighed and plopped down on the computer and began reading through edits and other publishing things that she was supposed to read.

It was about three hours later and Niki was on the chair again, drinking her tea and thinking about what the next day will bring. Well, if those were the last of the transcripts she would have to read this night then she should have a fresh new stack to read through and edit and give pointers. That wouldn't be so hard. While she was thinking, there was a knock at the door. Niki hopped up and opened the door. She almost fell down when she saw who it was on the other side.

An average sized man with chestnut brown hair, coffee colored eyes and a goatee and despite that it was dark out, he had sunglasses on. Also, he wore a black Sabbath shirt with jeans and converse. He smiled at Niki with a playboy like grin and that's what got things to click for her. It was Tony freaking Stark. What the heck was the millionaire doing at her house?!

"Hey, I'm Tony. I understand my daughter is out here with your daughter, right?" he said, still grinning.

Niki stumbled for words. She wasn't flustered by his good looks or his money. Nah, she was amazed that he was at HER house. He was at the humble abode of a humble publisher taking care of her little sister! "Uh, no, er well, yes. The person you're uh… referring to as my daughter is actually my younger sister… um, come on in," she stepped aside and let him in. "Now uh, who is your daughter?"

"Shadow."

Before she could say another word, there was another knock on the door.

"That I think is Bruce. He was behind me when I was on my way here," Tony said, smiling at Niki.

"Oh, uh okay." Niki stood and opened the door. Tony was right. It was the famous Dr. Banner.

Banner had brown hair and brown eyes both almost as dark as Tony's. He smiled kindly at her. Not like Tony's playboy grin, but a kind genuine smile. Bruce adjusted his glasses and nodded at her. "Hello. I'm Bruce Banner. You must be Niki."

"Yes I am."

"I'm here to pick up my daughter."

"Which one would that be?"

"Elizabeth."

"Aha, I'll get her and Shadow."

Niki stepped back and let Bruce in. She was a little nervous about letting the man with a raging green rage monster stuck inside him in her house. But she reminded herself that he most likely knew how to control it, especially since he had a kid. "Uh, they're probably upstairs, ummm, can I get you some coffee?"

"Oh, if it wouldn't be too much to ask," Bruce said, nodding.

"Sure," Tony replied.

Being the polite hostess she was, Niki quickly made some more coffee and poured them in the mugs. Just as she brought them over to the men at her kitchen table, there was yet another knock on the door. "Who could this be now?" she asked herself quietly. When the door was opened, she saw two people. Both were average sized. One was male, one was female. The man had short cut brown hair with blue eyes while the woman accomplice had red hair. They smiled at her.

"Hi, I'm Clint and this is Natasha," the man introduced themselves. "Uh, we're here to pick up Matt."

"Oh! Of course! Please come on in, the others are waiting for their kids too. Do you want some coffee?"

They nodded and sat down with Tony and Bruce and started chatting. Niki hurried and gave them their coffee and ran to the door, anticipating the upcoming knock which arrived right when she reached the door. She swung in the door and without looking said, "Thor and Steve, come on in."

"How on earth did you know?" Steve asked, chuckling a little.

"Took a lucky guess. Please, sit down. Would you like some coffee?"

"Please?"

Once again, Niki rushed and got the hero's their coffee and then pardoned herself and ran upstairs to her sister's room. "Em!" she hissed, attracting her little sister's attention away from her friends.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." Ember got up and walked over to Niki with a questioning look. "What is it?"

Niki placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at Em. "Whyyyyyy didn't you tell me that your friends parents are the Avengers?"

"Wait… what?!" Em shout-whispered. "You're joking!"

"No! Is this a face that says I'm lying?"

"No. Alright fine. They're here?"

"Heck yes."

"Alright," she spun around and faced her room. "Hey guys, your parents are here."

Shadow nodded and stood and the rest followed after her. "Thanks. Let's go."

Niki and Ember walked down the stairs and met with the Avengers and their kids in their small living room. Niki sat in the recliner and Ember leaned against the wall.

"So uh, this is a surprise. Can't tell if this is a pleasant one or a rather unpleasant one," Niki said, running her hands through her hair, trying to process this event.

"Yeah, well, not much we can do. I mean there is one option but uh, I'd rather not say it," Steve commented, nodding.

"I would like to live," Em mumbled. At that moment, the cat decided to rub up against her leg. "Oh hey Loki," she cooed as she lifted the cat.

Clint lifted his head in surprise. "Where?"

Niki laughed nervously and shook her head slightly. "Our cat, not the real person… god thing."

Thor raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "You named your feline after my step-brother?"

"Hey! Don't judge! We didn't even begin to guess that we'd meet the freaking Avengers!" Ember laughed. "You should see what we named our dog," she then mumbled.

"Well then!" Niki said, not trying to go further into the subject about their canine's name. "Is there anything that we should really be worried about?"

Clint shook his head. "No not really, except for Tony's ego."

"Hey, I think you mean Bruce's ego!" Tony said defending himself.

"Guys, please! We have to get the kids home," Natasha said, rolling her eyes at the arguing men. She faced Niki and Ember. "Thanks so much for taking care of them, I hope we can all be good friends later on down the road."

Niki nodded. "I do hope so too. Good night and have a safe trip."

As soon as the door shut behind the Avengers she turned on her sister with a glare. "What in the world did you do to make friends with the kids of the Avengers?!"

"I don't know," Ember said defensively. "I got to class, someone said hi, and the next thing I know I'm sitting with them at lunch! I didn't even know their parents were the Avengers until tonight!"

"Alright, alright, fine," Niki sighed. "Just, go do your homework or something while I recover from this heart attack."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day was Saturday and Niki was just about to walk out the door to go to work (they never let her rest) when said door was thrown open and in walked a tall dark skinned man with an eye patch and a long black coat that made him look ten times scarier than he already did.

"Miss Sorenson," he said. "Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. We have something to talk about. Seems you know too much for your own good."

Niki's eyes widened as she backed up and put an arm behind her to keep Ember back after her little sister came up behind Niki. "What? We did do anything, I swear!"

"Not on purpose at least but you do know the Avengers and their brats. Now we have to discuss security, disclosures, and defense for the both of you."

"Wait," Ember butt in. "You mean you're not going to kill us?"

Nick smirked. "Not yet."

Ember fainted.

Three grueling hours of interrogation and fifty billion papers signed later, Niki and Ember shut the door behind the director and slumped onto the couch.

"Why do we have to take self-defense classes," Ember whined.

"How in the name of heaven above did he know about my boyfriend in _high school_," Niki groaned. "I think I have writer's cramp from all those papers we had to sign. I'm a publisher and I have _writer's cramp_!"

"That's what you get for being my legal guardian. How long do we have to take those classes?"

"Will you shut up about those classes? That's the least of my worries right now. Go work on your homework. I know you haven't finished your Algebra yet. I have work to do. Dear heavens! Work!"

Niki jumped up and ran to the phone while Ember giggled and ran upstairs before she faced her sisters wrath.

3x.5-6 x=9

Ember groaned and set her pencil down. She hated Algebra. It didn't help that she was smart enough to get into one of the really good classes. After this question, she had five left. She leaned back in her chair, brooding when all of a sudden, a tall green pillar of smoke appeared in front of her. She fell backwards in her chair. As she tried to get up, she looked up and to see a tall, green eyed, pale man with long slicked back black hair. In his hands, he clutched a staff of some sort, and a helmet of gold with horns. His attire consisted entirely of black, green and gold. Ember fell over again.

"Problems mortal?" the man asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

Ember's hand went to her head. "I knew I should've passed on that coffee."

"What are you ranting about?"

Ember shook her head and looked up at the man. "Are you real?"

"Of course I am!"

"Are you positive? Because I'm pretty sure I'm on a sugar high."

The man sighed in frustration. "You mortals are so useless."

Ember frowned. "Are not! And I have a name."

He glared down at the small mortal girl. "Obviously, I do not know your name!"

"Ember Sorenson. You're Loki… right?" Ember asked. Loki was a pretty hard character to forget; helmet with large horns, slick black hair, and intense green eyes. Yeah, pretty hard to forget.

"How did you know?" he asked, clearly surprised. He hadn't visited Midgard for a few years! Or so he thought.

"Lucky guess." Ember smirked, getting up.

"Hey Ember, Clint and Natasha are coming over for dinner in a bit and-" Niki stopped mid-sentence when she saw Loki. "Who is that?"

"It's Loki." Ember giggled.

Niki gave herself a face palm. "Of course. You get the Avengers and the villain quickly follows. You must get the complete package!"

Loki opened his mouth to say something but dear Ember cut him off. "Don't ask, just don't." Loki nodded in response.

"Why are you here?!" Niki asked, pointing to the deity that had appeared in her sisters bedroom.

Loki sighed again. "I attempted to over throw Odin again, and obviously, it didn't work. I was quickly found out. Odin banished me and sent me here. And somehow I managed to appear in your home. Oh, and he took away my magic. Well, most of it."

"Uh-huh. Okay. So now I have to take care of the villain? Great." Niki pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Natasha? Yeah, it's me. Sorry, but I have to cancel the dinner. Something unexpected came up. Yeah, I'm sorry. Okay. Thanks. Good night." She snapped the phone shut. "Ember, I'm not sure if this is smart, but stay here and keep Loki out of trouble. I'm going to have a chat with the director…"

"Nick!" Niki yelled, entering the S.H.I.E.L.D HQ.

Nick Fury came down the stairs, growling. "What is it Niki?"

Niki crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one foot. "I meet the Avengers and guess who appears in my sister's room?"

"What did Tony do?"

"No. It's Loki."

"What?!"

"Loki is now at my house. Blame the Allfather if you want to pick a fight. Apparently he's here for a while and we've been tasked with housing him. If I am going to be taking care of him, I'm going to need a few things."

The man sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Okay."

"First, I need an insurance boost and I need more money so I can afford food and such for us!" Niki said.

"Done, just keep him out of my hands and keep SHIELD on speed-dial."


	5. Chapter 4

Authors Note: Can you tell who wrote what chapters yet? If you've read my other work then you should but if this is all you've read then no, no you should not because my sister wrote all of these up to this point. My turn! Please read and review!

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Chapter 4

_Why does this always happen to me, _Niki thought as she drove once more back to her home from SHIELD HQ. Oh yeah, that was defiantly a killer headache that was pounding right above her temples. _I was actually looking forward to this dinner._

Pulling up in the driveway, she sighed and took a few moments of silence to herself. Then, taking a deep, calming breath she exited her car and went to check on her sister and the errant Norse deity who was to take up residence in Niki's house.

_Absolutely perfect._

Cautiously she opened the door, prepared for all heck to be breaking loose in her living room. Instead, she found a sulking Ember curled up in a chair and Loki calmly reading one of Niki's books.

"Wow, I was really expecting Chitari Invasion take two in going down in here but I'm not complaining," Niki said with a smile as she closed the front door behind her.

"No, because grumpy gills over there is in a rotten mood," Ember yelled.

"It is not my fault that you cannot grasp a simple math equation," Loki said, not looking up from his (Niki's) book.

"Two more seconds and I would have!"

"Two more seconds and I would have become exceedingly bored and you refused to assist me in finding some form of entertainment until after you were done with you 'homework'. So I merely assisted you. You should be thanking me."

"Thanking you? Why you…"

Niki swatted her sister's head. "Watch it. It's going to be a miserable time for you if you start arguing with him now. I told Fury he was staying here and that I was responsible for him so don't provoke him. And you," she said spinning to face the god on her couch. "We're gonna have some guidelines if you're going to be staying here. One…are you even listening to me?"

"Not really," he said turning the page.

_Maybe this is actually a migraine,_ Niki thought. Walking over, she snatched her book out of Loki's hands and discreetly marked his place with her finger. She was annoyed, not heartless.

"What?" Bounding off the couch he towered over her, hands sparking with magic. "Mortal wench! You have five seconds to return that to me or…"

"Stow it," Niki yelled back, hitting him on the back of the head with her book. She really wasn't that much shorter than him. "I don't care if you're immortal or not. Apparently you can't grow up enough to not cause problems so now you're my problem and so you're going to have to obey my rules or go sit in time out with Nick Fury for the rest of your miserable existence." She glared at him and placed her hands on her hips. "Rule one, no magic unless you're being helpful. Rule two, no foul language under my roof. Rule three, I have the final say. No if ands or buts. Now somehow my sister has become friends with the offspring of the Avengers and as such, I have become friends with the Avengers themselves, including but not limited to, your older step-brother. Plus, I have S.H.I.E.L.D. at my beck and call because of this. So, should you make one false move or tick me off in any way, every single one of your worst nightmares are going to come raining down on you. Got it?"

Loki glared at her but Niki held his glare and poor Ember was clutching a pillow on the chair, terrified of and for her sister.

"Do you realize I could end you're pointless existence right now, mortal," he spat. "What makes you think I care if your precious Avengers come to your rescue?"

"I think you're more scared of them than you let on. And I have a feeling Odin won't be too happy if you kill me. You were put in my house for a reason and I'm gonna try to live up to that reason. So," she handed him the book back still opened to the page the agitated magician left off on. "You can either follow my rules and we can have a wonderful time, or you can follow my rules and be miserable. You're choice but I would prefer it if you chose the first."

Spinning on her heels, Niki walked off towards the kitchen. "I'm hungry. Em, what pizza should we order? Dear Mister Fury gave me babysitting money so we can have delivery."

Distracted from the fuming Jotun in front of her, Ember jumped up and followed her sister.

"Oh! Can we have stuffed crust?!"

"What else? Hey, Princeling, do you like pepperoni?"

Loki had been glaring at the book that had been roughly shoved into his hands. He was startled out of his brooding and turned to glare at Niki and Ember.

"I have no idea what stupidity you're spouting mortal, but it does not matter. I am not hungry."

He turned to leave but Ember ran up to him and grabbed his hand.

"But we have to eat together! It's tradition! Plus, who doesn't like pizza?"

Loki glared at Ember for a moment before sighing and settling on the couch again.

"Fine, I will humor you and remain out here while you eat. But do not expect me to take part in your dining habits from now on."

"Oh don't be such a sour puss," Niki said, putting a hand over her cellphone. "We really can be fun if you give us a chance. Em, why don't you pick out a movie and we'll eat in the living room when the pizza gets here."

"Sweet! Def gonna watch _Lord of the Rings_!"

"Not all of them! You have school in the morning," Niki yelled from the kitchen before returning to the poor pizza guy on the other end.

Loki watched the exchange between the sisters with a slight pang before berating himself for feeling any type of sentiment. He _is not your brother. None of that matters anymore._ Giving a huff, he returned to his book. That is, he returned to his book until Ember began an onslaught of questions.

"So what did you really do this time to get banished? Was it as bad as what you did last time you were here? I wasn't in New York or even born yet so I don't know what it was like. Niki said the news made it look really really bad so it must have been really bad. What happened after you went back to Asgard? How long were you in prison? Why did Odin pick us and our house for you to come to? Not that I'm complaining. Arithina's gonna be so excited to know that her uncle is staying at my house now! Matt won't be happy but he's always grouchy so don't worry about him. Shadow's dad's gonna want to run experiments on you I bet but I don't think Niki will let him. Tony really makes her mad sometimes cuz he doesn't knock when he comes over. He just walks right in. Oh! Clint's gonna be soooooo upset that you're back! He really really hates you! So does Natasha for that…."

"Do you ever breathe," Loki finally interrupted setting his book aside.

"Oh, sorry. You're reading Niki's favorite book by the way so you better take care of it. She loves _Lord of the Rings_. If you like it you should pay attention to the movie when it starts."

"What do you mean by 'movie'?"

"Oh, it's a motion picture of a story that rich Hollywood producers think other not-so-rich people might want to see. So are you going to watch?"

"…I suppose since I must remain here until you are done eating."

Ember spit her tongue out at him. "Don't be that way! We're trying to have fun here!"

"What makes you think I find this fun?"

"Well you're still here for one…"

"You really aren't giving me much of a choice."

"AND, I'm having fun so you must be at least amused if not having _fun_ exactly."

Loki sighed. "Why did the Allfather think it was a good idea to send me here? For all he knows, I'll lose my patience with you and kill you both."

"Oh please." Ember rolled her eyes. "We haven't done anything to you and you wouldn't get anything out of it so what would be the point?"

"I would get peace and quiet."

"No you wouldn't cuz then the Avengers would come and kick your butt from here to Helheim."

"How do you know about Helheim?"

"Niki's a Norse mythology nut and when she gets really excited about something she tells anyone who'll listen so I've heard a lot about most of it."

"Really? What is her occupation?"

"Her job? She works at a publishing company and deals a lot with anything that has to do with mythology or the supernatural. She makes sure the authors get their facts straight."

The opening lines of _Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_ where just starting and Ember shushed Loki before he could even begin to reply. Niki came in from the kitchen and curled up in the chair Ember was in earlier. Ember sat on the floor next to Loki's feet with a pillow gripped in her arms and a huge grin on her face. Before long, even Loki was intrigued by the plight of the hobbit Frodo and the doings of the wizard Gandalf. He was so enraptured by the movie that he even took a few of the offered slices of pizza.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Ember, Ember come on. It's time to get ready for school." Niki said, shaking the sleeping Ember. Ember had fallen asleep during the third disk of _Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring._ Her excitement had been at its peak ever since Loki had shown up but that was taken down when she ate three pieces of pizza. Normally, she didn't eat that much. Niki's little sister let out a soft snort/snore and continued to doze. "Ember!" Niki shook her sibling harder.

Ember sat straight up, wide eyes and on her face, barely noticeable was the imprint of her sleeve's wrinkle where her face had been pressed on. Her eyes had a bleary, tired look but she looked awake… enough. "Morning Nik." She said, yawning and stretching her arms over her head. "Where's Lokster? Is he okay?" she asked, yawning again.

Of course she came up with a nick name for Loki already. And of course she would be concerned about the disgruntled deity. Ember would be concerned about anyone if she had a reason. Sometimes she didn't even have a reason, she would just be concerned for a hobo on the street or for the single mother with five children, or the deity who nearly destroyed the world she has grown up in.

"He's in his own room, sleeping probably. Now quietly get ready for school. Shower girl!  
Niki teased, playfully shielding her nose.

Ember stuck out her tongue, popped up and went up to her room. After a short while, Niki heard the shower running and the muffled sound of singing. Shaking her head, Niki stood and walked into the kitchen to rummage through cabinets and cupboards for ideas for breakfast. All that seemed like a good idea was pancakes or French toast. Pancakes take less time, so she grabbed the box of mix.

Soon the aroma of the delightful breakfast delicacy wafted through the farm home. It attracted the attention of the sister's massive golden retriever, Mjolnir. He trotted in and sat at Niki's feet, looking up at her with large puppy eyes.

"No." Niki said, flipping a pancake. Mjolnir let out a small whimper that crushed Niki like an ant under a boot. "Fine. But just one." She grabbed the smallest pancake and tossed it to the dog. He jumped up and caught it in his large jaws. "I swear, you eat as much as Thor."

At the moment, a fully dressed and clean Loki entered the room. He sniffed the air and frowned, contemplating the smell. What was it? It didn't smell like anything from Asgard save, possibly the biscuits or the scones. But not too close to that. He sauntered over to Niki and looked over her shoulder. On the pan, sizzling were three medium sized disks. "What are those?"

Niki looked at him and took a slight step to the side. "Please don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Don't hover over my shoulder. It's annoying. Anyway, I'm making pancakes. Are you hungry?"

He straightened his jacket and walked into the dining area. "No. I've never had this pancake."

"Sit down, you're having one."

Loki knew better than to argue with women so he sat down at the table.

Soon, Ember, who was clean, dressed, and ready for school came down the stairs, humming. She walked into the kitchen totally oblivious to the brooding Loki at the table. "Pancakes?! Sweet! Thanks Niki." Ember hugged her older sister.

"You're welcome. Now go sit down. Breakfast is nearly ready."

"Yes ma'am." Ember came in and sat down across from Loki at the circular table. "Oh! Hi Loki! Didn't see you there!"

He just kind of glared at her. He didn't want to be asked a ton of questions.

"Calm down, mischief, I'm not going to do anything." Ember said, narrowing her eyes.

As if to save the two an awkward silence or a rather rude trading of words, Niki walked in with a plate of pancakes. She set that down on the table and sat down next to Loki. "Go ahead guys. Eat."

While they ate, Niki mentally went over her schedule for the day. She had a few transcripts to review and a few new entries to go through and… wait. It was a Friday! She had the day off and she got paid! Her eyes rested on Loki who was still wearing his Asgardian armor. _I know where some of that money will go…_

Niki and Loki were in Kohl's after they had dropped Ember off at school. Browsing the men's section, Niki was looking at clothing she thought Loki would like. The god looked around, unhappy to be surrounded by so many mortal beings. He didn't want to be here, he didn't even want to be on Midgard for that matter!

Seeing that the god was unhappy, yet again, Niki grabbed the shirt she was looking at, a pair of black dress pants and shoes and handed them to Loki. "Go try these on." She said, pointing at the empty dressing rooms. "Now."

Grumbling about something, Loki snatched the clothes and walked into the dressing room.

A few moments later, Loki came out, dressed in the dark green V-neck sweater that Niki had been looking at, the black dress pants, and the dress shoes. "I do not mind these. They shall suffice." He commented, looking down at Niki.

Niki was doing an expert job at keeping her face straight. "Good, now here are some more." She said, handing him some more clothing. Her face looked as if she was unimpressed, but in her mind, she was ogling. Her eyes would be wide and her mouth would've been wide open had she not covered up. Loki had looked… well… amazing! She blushed, in the knowing that she was swooning over her friend's enemy.

The day went on just like that. Niki would send Loki to try on clothing and later almost fall down due to his good looks!

"Number one advantage to having the villain in your house: he's hot and you pay for his clothing, therefore, you choose what he wears." She had muttered under her breath at one point. Afterwards, she snickered both at that idea and the image of Ember's reaction to the god in mortal clothing.

"Might as well pick up Ember." Niki said as the two drove down the busy streets of New York City.

Loki let out a tremendous groan and placed his head in his hands. "Please! Why must we pick _her _up?!"

Niki slammed her foot down on the break, both because they were at a stop light and she was ticked. "Do you have a problem with my sister? Because if you do, then you have a problem with me! And if you have a problem with me, I can send you to live with your Avengers, you got it?!" she growled, glaring daggers at the slightly shaken demigod.

"Alright, alright fine." He said, shifting in his seat. There was an awkward silence while Niki glared out the window and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. Loki didn't like this silence. He felt as if Niki would kill him. But something nagged at him. The two sisters had a special bond. They would always stand up for each other, and they got along nicely. "H-how do you do that?"

Niki glanced at him oddly. "Do what now?"

"How do you get along so well? How do you… live with each other?" Loki asked.

Niki's expression softened but she didn't smile. She just stared out the windshield, being taken back to that day; that day when her life stopped. "Well, one, we're sisters. Two, our parents died last year and I have to take care of her."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

For the rest of the drive to pick up Ember, Loki was silent. Niki stared out the windshield, anger melting into melancholy sadness at the reminder of her family's death. It still hurt; a lot. She tried hard to stay cheerful for Ember's sake and to keep them both happy and positive, but unwelcome reminders were, well, unwelcome.

Sighing as they came up to the next stop light, she turned to the silent trickster in her passenger seat. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I guess I'm just an over-protective older sister. Just, if you're going to stay with us, please, be nice to her."

Loki regarded her silently for a moment before turning to look out the window again. As they pulled away from the light, he mumbled, "Very well."

It was another couple blocks before he spoke again. "I apologize for angering you. Your dynamic with your sister is…astounding. I never had a good relationship with my brot- with Thor. Growing up, we never got along well unless it was late at night or someone other than Thor was abusing me. It is…interesting to see the two of you get along so well."

Niki smiled, "Well when your sisters all you've got left, things are really put in perspective for you. I'm sorry you didn't have a good big brother. You know, that's the only thing I really wished I had growing up, an older brother?" She laughed ruefully. "Now I just want to be a good big sister. I can't be a mom for Em, but I can try to be close enough."

They drove on in silence before Niki almost screamed, "Okay! I've had enough sadness! My friend let me introduce you to the Beatles!"

By the time they got to Embers school, Niki was in a wonderful mood again and Loki was yelling at her to "turn down that infernal racket before the car explodes!"

Ember came out of the school laughing and talking with Shadow Stark just in time to see Loki get out of the car and yell something at a laughing Niki before he slammed the door and leaned against the car.

"Ha-ha they actually came to pick me up!?" Ember turned to Shadow to see her friends face grow very serious before she was whipping out her phone and calling her dad.

"DAD! LOKI'S HERE! AT MY SCHOOL! NO I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHY, HE'S JUST HERE!"

Ember quickly snatched her friend's phone and tried to calm Shadow down, holding the phone an arm's length away from the irate Stark.

"Whoa whoa whoa! It's fine! He's here with Niki! Fury knows! Loki's staying with us!"

"What do you mean 'it's fine.'? A super villain shows up outside our school in _your car_ and its fine?! This guy has tried to take over the world multiple times and you're just going to let him waltz over here…"

"He was sent here! Odin on high sent him to change! Do you think he _wants_ to be living with us?!"

"He's living with you?! Do you realize how crazy that sounds?"

"It's fine! Niki's got him under tight watch and…"

Their argument was cut short by the loud rush of the repulsors of the Iron Man armor as the great Tony Stark himself came in to land between his daughter and the car that contained an entertained Niki and an annoyed Loki still leaning against it.

"Whoa! Things just became real," Ember said under her breath as Tony raised a hand at Loki and the other behind him to protect Shadow and her friend.

"Alright Bambi," Tony said through his helmet. "I don't know what you're doing back here or why but you have two seconds to send yourself back home before I kick your sorry hide back there myself."

Loki coolly eyed him before rolling his eyes. "Please, mortal. If I wanted to cause any harm to you think I would allow myself to be subjugated to _this_?"

"Hey! Just because you can't appreciate good music," Niki yelled from inside the car as Tony lifted the faceplate of his armor.

"Dunno, Frosty. You have some pretty out there schemes."

Ember finally broke free of the arm Shadow had thrown in front of her and ran in front of Iron Man.

"Whoa, hey Tony. He's fine. He's with me and Niki. The mighty Allfather sent him here to change. You know, like Thor. So he's staying with us. Fury knows and is paying Niki extra to help us out. Please don't blow him up. We actually got him to watch Lord of the Rings last night and apparently Niki picked out some new cloths for him." Turning to the car Ember yelled to her sister, "Nice choice! Love the green converse!"

Niki opened the door and leaned over the top of the car. "I know, right?! You missed it! Soooo much fun! He _hates_ dressing rooms!"

"How can anyone stand to be shoved into a tiny room and be expected to change their attire," Loki fumed at her. "It was not _fun_."

Niki grinned at him. "Maybe not for you but I got the best fashion show ever."

He blinked at her before throwing his arms in the air and getting back in the car. "Enough of this. I wish to return to your home."

Niki rolled her eyes. "Yes sir, Mr. Grumpy Gills, sir. Coming Ember? Good to see you again Tony!"

"Wait a second? You mean to tell me that, besides raising your little sister by yourself, you know have to re-raise Thor's destructive baby brother," Tony asked dropping his arm, confusion plastered on his face.

"That's about the jist of it," Ember said before turning to run to the car. "Bye Shadow, see ya tomorrow!"

Both Starks were left in front of the school staring after the car containing their friends and their arch nemesis.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Perfect. Just great. The three were stuck in traffic. New York traffic was nothing to laugh at, and it was not fun to be in. Niki groaned and almost let her head slam onto the horn, which would cause it to go off, joining the other car horns. But she didn't want to be classified like them so she didn't. The watch strapped to her wrist ticked as if to tease her about how much time was going by. One minute… five… ten… thirty! "SHUT UP!" Niki shouted at the inanimate object, taking it off and shoving it in the glove compartment. She grumbled and glared out the windshield.

Loki gave her an odd look. "Problems woman?"

"Shut it Loki! I don't want to deal with your attitude." Niki barked. Loki glared at her and looked out his window.

"I was going to offer council but I guess not."

To save an awkward silence, Ember clapped her hands. "Okay! Okay! We're all friends here aren't we?" Both Niki and Loki turned around in their seats and glared at her. "Okay… maybe not…" Ember chuckled nervously at her sleeves. "This is going to be great," she mumbled to herself. "And we all have to live in the same house… together. Joy! This is great. I'm probably going to get the brunt of it all."

Niki sighed and glared at Ember. "Best watch your mouth girlie."

Ember held up her hands in defense. "I didn't utter a single insult, and or something that wasn't true."

True enough. And besides… hey! Look at that! The traffic started moving, making Niki happy and more tolerant. She sighed in relief and tapped the gas with her foot. "I really hope the rest of the day is better." She said. Little did she know that it was going to get tons worse. After another twenty or so minute on the road, they pulled into their driveway to find the Avengers, dressed out in their gear, standing on their lawn. Niki groaned and turned to Ember. "Get out slowly and keep your head down. Do not make eye contact. Tony sees that as a challenge."

Ember nodded and carefully gathered things together. And then Niki turned to Loki who was grinning, looking out the windshield at the fuming Avengers. "Oh boy…" she sighed. "I suppose it's too much to ask you not to say a word?"

Loki shifted his green gaze towards her and smirked. "Yes it is."

She rolled her eyes. This god needed to be taught a few lessons in manners and people skills that didn't involve plotting or manipulating. "Then please just don't… blow anything up, or turn anybody into anything, or make things too much worse."

"No promises."

Ember, Niki and Loki climbed out of the car and strolled over to the group of angry heroes. Ember kept her head down, Niki just frowned and Loki smirked. The team of Avengers was blocking their way to their door. There was an awkward silence of stare downs and mental questions and then all hell broke loose. There was arguing and finger pointing and shouting.

"Why would you let him into your house?!" Bruce shouted. He was honestly trying to stay calm but with the news that Loki, his worst enemy, was at his friend's house put him on the edge.

Ember crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one foot. "We didn't. He just appeared in my room yesterday. We talked to Fury and he said that Loki should stay at our place." She and Niki were really the only calm ones in the whole argument.

While Ember, Bruce, Thor, and Natasha argued, Niki was dealing with a deeply confused Steve and an outraged Tony.

"So wait, he just randomly appeared in your home?! And you left him here with your little sister, alone?!" Steve asked.

Niki nodded, calmly even though there was a lot of tension and anger. "Yes. Ember knows how to protect herself. Especially after all those special defense training sessions she was forced to take," she eyed Tony. After the first talk with Nick the girls had to take a few defense and safety classes for a just-in-case. If any of the Avenger's enemies found out that Niki and Ember know and attacked them, they needed to know how to protect themselves until the Avengers came along.

"Those were necessary! Loki living with you is not!" Tony exclaimed.

Niki rolled her blue eyes at the man of iron. He was, no, all of them were getting on her nerves. "This IS necessary."

Those three kept arguing, but all the while, Loki was watching them. A grin had plastered itself to his face out of pure enjoyment. Arguments were fun to watch. Well to him. Being the god of mischief, what can you expect? Mischief is and always will be his thing. He was just about to interject in Niki's conversation, when Clint came and stood in front of him, trying to stare him down.

"What are you doing here?" Clint growled.

Loki rolled his eyes at the archer who used to be under his control. "You are obviously deaf. We've explained this I think twice now."

"Let me rephrase that for you, Frosty," Clint hissed as Loki glared at him. "Why are you STILL here?"

"Best you watch what you say to me, archer. You never know what could happen to your precious, annoyances of friends."

"You would! Just like when you threatened our world."

"I wasn't the one whose mind was subjected to someone else, someone of more power."

"At least I'm not the runt who tried to kill my own people!" Clint shouted. "Yeah, we all know! Hard to keep a dirty secret like that under wraps. Especially when you decide to take your daddy issues out on our world! After that do you really think you could just waltz in and set up hearth and home with our friends as a form of time out?"

At this point, he was loud enough for everyone to hear him. Everyone was staring at them. Clint smirked when he saw Loki's face. He had found a weak point in the god's defensive wall. Just before he was about to give a victory remark, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. Spinning around, he found Niki giving him a glare that could've killed.

"Loki, inside. Now." She demanded, still holding Clint in her glare. Loki obeyed and went inside. "Low blow Clint. That was beyond too low." Next, Niki shifted her glare to every other Avenger. "All of you get your butts off my lawn. If you still have a problem, take it up with Fury. I want you gone in the next three minutes. If that doesn't happen, then I will move you myself." Niki then marched inside.

Ember glared at everyone, but mostly Clint and Tony. She walked up to Clint and did an 'epic ninja move' and kicked him in the shins nice and hard. "Be thankful I didn't aim higher," she growled as Hawkeye bent down in pain, holding his bruised legs. She did the same to Tony, and then walked inside, slamming the door behind her. There was a high pitched whining coming from behind the door. "Tony! You bust the door you're buying us a new one!" Ember yelled.

The Avengers grumbled but left.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Who in their right mind though _that_ was a good idea," Ember yelled as soon as the sounds of the Quinjet and Tony's repulsors died away. "I mean, who thinks that the best way to solve an argument is to go in, guns blazing, and _then_ talk it out?"

"Tony."

"….Your right, that was a stupid question."

Niki sighed and turned away from the door and her younger sister to look at the Norse god standing stalk still in the middle of her living room with his back to them. She slowly walked over and raised a hand to place on his shoulder. "Loki?"

He stiffened and jerked away. "Don't touch me!"

She recoiled a bit but kept walking towards him. "I'd say I'm sorry for that, but it's not my place to apologize for that. I am sorry that things went overboard but I wasn't really in control of that either." By now she was standing in front of him but is gaze was fixed on the floor and she couldn't see his face very well. "Loki? Are you alright?"

"Clearly I am not since I have been sent here by those who think they know what is best for me," he spat, looking up at her suddenly. Niki was taken aback by the slight glimmer of tears in his eyes but he quickly stormed away and slammed the door to his room shut.

"Niki?" Ember came up next to her sister, still looking after the angry deity. "How are we going to help him?"

"Any way we can." After a few moments of silence, Niki turned to Ember and smiled. "But we should let him cool down for now. How bout you go do your homework and I'll fix up something for supper."

Ember nodded, not quite feeling the happiness Niki was trying to exude and grabbed her backpack before settling at the dining room table and beginning her Algebra assignment.

Niki went into the kitchen and, leaning against the counter, sighed and ran a hand over her face. "How indeed."

Quickly she took out the roast that had been sitting in the fridge defrosting and put it in a stoneware pan with potatoes, onions, and carrots before dumping beef broth on it, wrapping it in aluminum foil, and putting it in the oven. For the next two hours she set about making the best meal she could and recruited Ember to set the table with some of the nice plates and silverware as she pulled out the roast.

"Okay, here comes the hard part," said Niki, walking up to Ember with a coin in her hand. "Who's going to go get Loki for supper?"

"Oh no, not me!"

"That's what the coins for! Heads you go, tails I stay."

"Waaaait a minute, I know that trick. Heads I go, tails you go."

Glowering, Niki flipped the coin and caught it before slamming it down on the table.

Tails.

"YES!"

"NO!"

"Deal with it, sis," Ember said, sticking her tongue out. "Go get the Lord of Pouting out of his room so we can eat. I'm starving!"

With a dispirited sigh, Niki walked out of the kitchen before squaring her shoulders and smirking. She was actually glad she won the toss. For some reason, Loki didn't like Ember currently and she didn't want her little sister to get yelled at by an angry god.

Softly knocking, Niki opened the door to Loki's room. "Loki? You alright?"

The lights were off and most of the room was dark except for the light coming in from the setting sun. Glancing around, she finally found him sitting on the floor leaning against his bed, facing the window. Walking round the bed, she sat on the floor next to him and gazed out the window as well.

Silence filled the room and a small black shadow crept into the room before skulking over to Niki, winding round her feet. She giggled softly. "Loki, you silly kitty! You know my feet are ticklish!"

"You named a cat after me?" The softly spoken question.

Niki smiled, lifting the cat into her lap and scratching his head. "Well at the time we didn't know you and being a mythology buff with a little sister who eats that stuff up, it was down to Loki or Baste for names. Since he's clearly male, we just had to go with Loki."

Loki gave a short huff of laughter before reaching over to scratch the black cat behind the ears.

"I dread to know what you would name a dog."

Niki shifted nervously. "Actually we do have a dog. He's very loving and basically mine since I'm more of a dog person and Em's the one who loves cats."

"And what did you name him."

"Ah, well, you see, he really is a loving dog. A massive golden retriever. And when we got him we had already become friends with the Avengers and I had a couple of bruised ribs when we got him because of a massive bear hug I had received from…someone after returning a long lost something-or-other…"

"You didn't."

"I didn't name him directly after your brother, if that's what you're implying."

"He's not my brother," Loki spat. The cat version hissed and batted at Loki's hand before rubbing his head under Niki's chin.

Niki sighed. "Right. Well, we didn't name the dog after him directly. Mjolnir is a good dog, really. And once he was full grown and he sat on you, it became impossible to get up so in reality we did choose an appropriate name for him."

Loki glared and resumed staring out the window.

"At least we named you correctly," Niki muttered to the black fuzz ball on her lap. The cat looked up at her before stretching and walking off, tail held high. If a cat could ever look imperious, the one did. "Maybe too well."

After a few more seconds of silence, Niki stood abruptly. "Well, supper's ready. Come on, you have no choice. You don't get to sit and brood. Supper time and you need to eat."

Loki regarded her sharply before standing in a huff and walking out towards the dining room. He stopped abruptly when Niki caught his arm.

"Look, I know this was a bad afternoon and a lot of people that you probably didn't want to see showed up. Just know that Ember and I didn't want that to happen. But it's over and done with. Try to forget it."

"But I can't. As your archer _friend_ so kindly pointed out." He pulled his arm away with a jerk.

"Well to be fair you did possess his mind for quite a while. But that's not the point!" Niki stamped her foot and closed the distance between them with a finger jabbing his chest. "The important thing is not the situation but how you deal with it. That's what defines you. And you've been doing the exact opposite. It's time to stop letting the cards you've been dealt play you and take control of your life before you cross the point of no return."

Loki looked at her, startled. Slowly, the finger poking him in the chest lowered and Niki backed away. His gaze drifted to the floor once more before muttering, "But what if I already have."

"Then you run back as fast as you can. It's not too late though. There are still people willing to help you. You just have to let them." Niki reached out and set a hand against his cheek, smiling.

"Hey! Can we eat yet?" Ember appeared in the kitchen door, hands on her hips, glaring at them.

Niki laughed and, taking Loki's arm, lead him to the table. "Yes. Let's eat!"


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ember spent most of the next day avoiding the mini avengers at school. But considering the fact that she was placed in almost all the same classes as them it was kind of hard. She did her best to avoid the Loki questions when they did talk to her. All and all, she was glad that the day had ended; she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before and so she had been dead most of the day. But when she got home from the bus ride, she soon found out that Niki wasn't home. She marched in and found Loki sitting in the living room, book on his lap and a mug of Earl Grey Tea on the coaster.

"Hey Lokster, where's Niki?" Ember asked, closing the door behind her. He looked up at her, slightly annoyed that this mortal had interrupted his reading. Instead of blowing up though, he sighed. He was going to have to get used to her at some point. "I don't know. She hasn't come home yet."

Ember stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him. "She's not home?"

"That's what I said, are you deaf?"

Ignoring the deaf comment, Ember ran up to her room, swiping the phone off of the charger. As soon as she was up there she dumped her stuff off and dialed her sister's number. Pressing the phone up to her ear, she listened to it as it ringed that irritating monotone ring. Finally after a minute, Niki picked up.

"This is Niki."

"Where are you?!" Ember near shouted.

There was an audible sigh from the other end. "I'm working late tonight so it'll just be you and Loki for a while."

"Are you trying to end me?! He'll kill me before you get home!"

"Ember!" Niki snapped. "He's reforming himself, encourage it! Please child, get along. I've got to go. Bye."

"Wait! Niki!" Ember screamed in the phone but the line had gone dead. "Great… now I'm left alone with the troubled deity with daddy problems…"

Trudging down the stairs and grumbling about something, she walked into the living room where Loki was. "Loki, Niki won't be back until late tonight so it'll just be you and me."

Loki growled and rubbed his eyes with his hand. This is not what he wanted. Ember was annoying to him and he wanted little to do with her. Still… she stood up for him yesterday. Heck, she took on Iron Man and Hawkeye for him. That was kind of her. "Great…"

Ember rolled her eyes and walked over to him. "So what's the matter with you?"

Loki went back to his book, ignoring her question. He didn't feel like talking to her, not wanting to encourage her babbling. Then Ember just plopped down next to him and snuggled up closer. "What are you doing?!" he asked, clearly surprised by her actions.

"What are you reading?"

"Why do you want to know?"

She looked at him and arched an eyebrow, "Okay since you don't want to talk to me then read to me."

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me. Read."

He stared at her and was about to shake his head but something inside him snapped and he sighed. "Fine, but only a chapter."

Niki came home that cold evening, huddled in her big coat. Snow had begun to fall and it was actually sticking to the ground. Her breath was a small puff of grey fog in the air and her cheeks were red. Snowflakes stuck to her eyelashes and hair. Finally, she reached the front door. The drive way was actually a considerable length away from the door. Fumbling to get her keys out of her pocket, Niki realized there wasn't any screaming like she was expecting. _That's odd_, she thought, _I would expect those two to be at each other's throat by now._

The door opened and Niki stepped in, gently stamping her feet on the threshold to get the loose snow off of her flats. Slowly, her nose turned back to its normal color and Niki was de-numbing her fingers over the heating vent next to the door. _Where are those two?_ She wondered. She was at least expecting Ember to run up and hide behind her, away from the wrath of Loki. But that never happened. A little concerned for her little sister and the deity, Niki stepped into the living room and what she found surprised her.

Ember and Loki were sleeping. Not just sleeping but Ember was snuggled up to Loki. Her head was on his shoulder and Loki had a book in his lap and his head was leaning slightly on Ember's. It was cute. Too cute. Niki laughed softly. She decided to be a good older sister and landlord and draped a blanket over the two. And then, she decided to be a naughty one. She grabbed her camera and took several pictures of the two.

_Black mail._


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Ember! You're late for school! Get up!"

Ember jolted out of her slumber in a panic. "What do you mean I'm late?!"

She ran to her room and hastily dressed and brushed her teeth and hair. When she came peeling back still slightly disheveled, Em was greeted by the sight of Niki and Loki sitting on the couch holding back laughter, watching her.

"What's so funny?"

The two on the couch lost it and broke into raucous laughter. "It's Saturday, silly," Niki said between gasps of laughter. "Plus there's, like, two feet of snow outside! I can't get in to work and there wouldn't be school even if it wasn't the weekend."

After a pause to digest this new information, Ember glared at her sister and 'guest', arms crossing over her chest. This just sent them into new fits of laughter.

"That wasn't funny," Ember said grumpily.

"Oh yes it was," Loki said, whipping his eyes. "Your reaction was better than Thor's when I told him he must dress as a bride to retrieve his hammer from the giants."

"You're so mean," Ember yelled. "I bet this was your idea!"

"Oh come on Ember," Niki said, sitting up. "It's all in good fun. Don't ruin it. Besides, it's a snow day! Let's go outside!"

The younger sister perked up immediately and ran back to her room to change into warmer cloths.

"Come on, Chilly Willy," Niki said, nudging Loki as she stood. "You too. We're gonna go have fun in the snow."

"I must pass on the invitation," he said settling further into the couch. "I derive no pleasure from frolicking in the cold."

Niki rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. "Bull. Now come on Frosty. House rules if you won't come on your own. You must have fun." By this point she was smiling and tugging on his arm with all her might.

"I told you, I don't want to!"

"Too bad, now come." With a final heave she yanked him off the couch and went sprawling backwards, landing on her butt, Loki tumbling after her. "Get off me!"

"It's not my fault," he yelled back as he tried to avoid her flailing. "This is your own doing, I told you I didn't want to go!"

"Um, do you guys need help or privacy," came Embers voice from above them. They froze and looked up at her.

"Hah, in her wildest imaginings I'd assume," Loki said while he got up.

"You wish, Frozone," Niki replied, taking the offered hand and sticking her tongue out. "Now that you're up, go get that nice winter coat I bought you with Fury's money! We're going outside and having fun whether you like it or not."

Ten minutes and lots of yelling later, the three of them were outside, Niki and Ember engaged in a snowball fight while Loki stood by the (locked) door with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his face half hidden by a massive green scarf. Then came the errant snowball that caught him in the shoulder.

"Oops, sorry," Ember yelled from across the lawn.

With a face of disgust, Loki brushed off his arm. "You did that on purpose!"

"Payback for making me run around like crazy this morning!"

"That was your dear sister's idea, not mine!"

"Niki!"

The sister in question was doubled over in laughter. "This is far, far too easy!"

Two snowballs hit her in rapid succession knocking her to the ground. "Hey! No fair, I wasn't ready!"

"As she said," Loki grinned. "Payback."

The next ten to fifteen minutes were filled with Loki and Ember teaming up against Niki as they chased her about the lawn throwing snowballs at her. Really, it was rather unfair because Ember would chase her until she ran into the snow ambush Loki had prepared.

"Enough," Niki gasped sinking to her knees in the snow. "Two against one isn't fair. I'm done!"

Ember giggled, doubled over and panting from the chase. "You brought that on yourself sis."

"Not for that long!"

"You deserved it," Loki chuckled.

Niki groaned in defeat making the others laugh. Ember came up next to Loki and bumped him with her elbow. "We make a pretty good team, huh?...Uh, Loki? Um, why are you turning blue?"

There was a moment's pause before the sisters watched as Loki turned and ran back inside (the door having been unlocked by Niki while she was trying to get away but not quite succeeding). Quickly the two rushed after him, removing their boots at the back door and coats deposited on the rack. They were in time to hear receding footsteps and a door slam before everything was still and silent.

Niki and Ember shared a look before going to Loki's door. They didn't try to open it, guessing correctly that it was locked. Gently, Niki knocked while Ember pressed an ear to the door.

"Loki? You in there? Are you alright?"

Silence.

"Loki, nothing's wrong. Em was just asking a logical question, she didn't know."

"Wait, that means you did," Ember yelled turning to her older sister.

"Yeah sorry," Niki said wincing. "Fury told me and I forgot to tell you. Sorry."

"You're helpful," Ember said accusingly before addressing their upset guest. "I didn't mean to make you mad Loks. I didn't know."

"Come on Loki, open the door," Niki pleaded.

Still silence.

First Niki, then Ember sank to the floor on either side of the door, leaning against the walls of the hallway. The silence stretched on for what felt like hours. Occasionally the sisters thought they heard sniffling or something from the other side of the door but one look from Niki silenced any questions. It wouldn't help to ask the angry god in the next room if he was crying. Bad things would happen then.

Slowly, the sun outside began to set and still they remained in the hall, waiting for a word from the Norse deity on the other side.

Finally, Niki broke the silence. "You know, blue always was my favorite color."

The sound of the door unlocking had both sisters getting to their feet and slowly opening the door. Inside the room was dark but in the light from the setting sun they saw a figure huddled against the headboard, knees drawn up and his head resting on his arms. Carefully they approached, Niki walking to the other side of the bed before they both clambered up to sit next to their guest. Ember snuggled up close to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. Niki opted for just sitting there before gently taking his hand and holding them between her own occasionally rubbing his hand with her thumb. Again they sat in silence, no one making a sound except their quiet breathing.

"Loki," Ember finally said in a small voice. "Please don't be upset. I think it's kinda cool that you can turn blue. Niki always liked that color and I swear half her wardrobe is blue."

"Color is not the problem," came the quiet answer. "It is a reminder of what I really am."

"And what's that?" Niki asked still holding his hand. "A living legend? Someone once thought to be a mere myth who's actually a really person? A…"

"A frost giant," Loki growled, head snapping up to look at her. "A monster living up to his title. A thing of nightmares."

"No," Niki snapped back while Ember clung all the tighter to him. "You are NOT a monster. You are Loki. No one else can decide what you are besides yourself. So you've been dealt a tough hand. So what. Don't let the past own you. No one said you _had_ to be a super villain and no one said you _had_ to be just like the other frost giants. Also, you've been given so many chances that others would kill for! You were raised by a loving family, don't deny it! And now you're being given a second chance at life. Don't just throw that away."

There was another period of silence before Niki grasped the hand she was holding and yanked the moping deity off his bed. "Come one! Enough misery and self-pity. Let's go have some hot chocolate!"

Ember squealed with delight and ran off to fetch mugs and start the kettle while Niki kept her hold on the hand she had taken and guided her house guest into the living room. After making sure he was settled on the couch she started a fire in the fire place and draped a large blanket around Loki's shoulders. Soon Ember came back with three mugs of creamy hot chocolate and handed them out after Niki scolded her for carrying all three at once. The remainder of the evening was spent talking and sitting in companionable silence.

It was well past midnight when the fire died and the sister had fallen asleep; Ember sitting on the floor curled up against the Norse god's legs and Niki sitting next to him, her head on his shoulder.

Neither heard the quiet "thank you."


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Niki woke up slowly, blinking in the early morning light to find herself in her own bed. _This is wrong_ she thought. _I was on the couch last I knew. Unless…_ She sat up and looked around. No, no one was in her room except for that silly cat on her pillow and her dog at the foot of her bed. Sliding out of bed she put her robe on and walked out to the living room. No one here either; no Ember asleep on the floor where she'd been sitting last night and Loki wasn't asleep on the couch either. It was still early in the morning so she wasn't surprised she was the only one up, in fact she was surprised that she was awake at all but something made her get up and it wasn't an overwhelming need to pee.

Quietly she opened the door to Embers room and saw her sister was still asleep buried under blanket upon blanket and drooling. Stifling a giggle Niki closed the door again and went to go check on her guest. She hadn't carried anyone to bed last night and there was no way Ember could so that left the Norse princeling in her guest room.

Wincing as the door squeaked a little as she pushed it open Niki poked her head in to take a peek. What she found was Loki sitting in an arm chair looking lost in thought.

"Hey," she said quietly, trying not to startle him. "You alright? Did you sleep at all?"

He shook his head but smiled a genuine smile at her. "I had thinking to do instead."

"Oh." She fidgeted in the door before caving to her curiosity. "About what? Not to pry, it's probably none of my business anyway."

"You needn't worry," he reassured her. "It's natural curiosity. I will tell you, later perhaps but not right now."

"Oh," Niki tried really hard not to make a face to show how annoyed she was by that answer but it must not have worked because Loki chuckled before motioning her to come on in. "I gather that it was you who helped Ember and me to bed last night?"

He nodded. "You looked uncomfortable laying there on the sofa so naturally I couldn't leave you like that and it would not have been fair of me to aid you and leave Ember alone on the floor so I carried her to bed as well." Standing he stood in front of her and with his thumb and finger tilted her chin so she was looking him in the eyes. "And so you are aware, you are very cute when you are asleep."

Niki blushed furiously and scrambled for something to say but words were failing her making her burn a brighter red. While in college she wasn't really interested in dating anyone and later, after her family died she simply didn't have time. She wasn't used to such compliments and was left to scramble for her normally vast vocabulary. Loki laughed before dropping his hand and sitting back down in his chair. Screwing her face up and dropping on to the edge of his bed she stuck her tongue out at him and said, "That wasn't fair. You were just trying to get me worked up!"

"Oh no, I meant every word I said, your reaction was just an unexpected bonus," he replied leaning forward. "And also very cute."

This time she turned red and slid off the edge of the bed onto the floor in front of him once again spluttering for words. The god laughed and slipped off the chair to kneel before her and taking her hand, kissed the heel of her palm.

"Come now." He helped her stand with an arm around her waist for support. "Let's go prepare breakfast before Ember wakes up."

"When you say 'us' I feel like you mean me while you sit and watch," Niki mumbled.

"Naturally. I do not know my way around your quaint kitchen."

She rolled her eyes but began to make pancakes with Loki leaning against the counter next to her engaging her in small talk. Soon Ember was awake as well and they settled down to a peaceful breakfast before moving back to the living room to watch _Lord of the Rings: Two Towers_ when Niki jumped up.

"Oh! What's today's date," she asked running to the calendar.

"The 28th of January," Ember said slowly. "What did you forget?"

"That's tonight! Tony's throwing a little party for the adults tonight and I totally forgot about it! Ember, you can't go cuz you're not 21 for another….long time and Loki; I imagine you don't want to go at all."

"Correct," he said making a face.

"Then it'll be you two here tonight while I'm gone. It won't be that long so don't worry and I'm not drinking. Someone has to be sane at these things besides Steve and Bruce."

"What are you going to wear," Ember asked leaning on her knees against the back of the couch watching her sister run around like a mad woman.

"Oh probably that black dress. I don't know why Tony insists these things be formal wear because by the end of the evening he's wasted and so is Clint. Plus it's just us anyway, not some charity event or donor's party. It starts at 7 pm so I guess I have some time before I need to get ready but don't let me forget to give you guys some money for supper before I leave. I trust you can handle calling for pizza, Ember?"

"Or take-out!"

"As long as you both agree on something."

"I'm not a child," Loki said hotly.

"No but you two argue like children sometimes so do me a favor and try to get along tonight."

"Oh shut up and finish the movie," Ember said before pressing play.

That evening Niki didn't end up wearing her black dress but settled on black slacks, a dark green off the shoulder quarter sleeve blouse and matching flats.

"Well don't you look lovely," Tony greeted her. "Although I think a certain god of mischief is starting to rub off on you too much."

"Please Tony," Niki said rolling her eyes. "Try to be nice."

"For you darling, anything," he said winking at her.

"Tony," Steve said reproachfully. "Leave the woman alone."

"Can you blame me? She's the only other single person here besides me."

Niki groaned. "Don't tell me that's the whole point of this stupid thing?"

"No," Natasha said coming over and taking her arm leading her away from Tony. "This is a few good friends getting together for drinks."

"In overly formal attire," Thor said from the drink bar. "Friend Stark, why must we be so dressed?"

"No kidding," Clint whined from the couch. "I feel stifled."

"Because when else am I going to see these lovely ladies in such beautiful attire again," Tony said leaning against Steve who pushed him away. Niki and Natasha ignored him and began chatting next to the bar with Thor. The evening progressed relatively well. That is, until Tony became far too drunk for his own good again and managed to start up something of a conversation.

"So how's things with Reindeer Games," he asked face flush with drink.

"Not bad. Getting better all the time."

"Was that a Beatles reference?"

"I'm surprised you caught it."

"Psh please. I haven't even hit my stride yet!"

"I believe it. How's Shadow?"

"Argh, teenagers. I swear she _tries_ to pick a fight with me every day. Kinda wish she had a sister or something to distract her," he said looking pointedly at Niki.

"Well at least she has good friends."

"Be better if she had a sister."

"What do you mean, Stark?"

"Oh come on! You know what I mean. Shadow needs a mom and a sibling/aunt/thing and Ember needs a dad. It's perfect! What do you think?"

"I think you've had too much to drink Tony," Niki said standing.

"Come on. It's a good idea and you know it."

"I'm going home now."

"You're kidding me! We just started."

"No, it's been 3 hours."

"Really? Still, not long enough."

"Goodbye Tony."

"Fine. Just think about my offer."

"Whatever you say Tony."

Niki said goodbye to the others and left in a huff. However, Tony's offer still rang in her ears. _Ember could use some type of father figure. I'm not her mom but pretty darn close._


	13. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Finally a new chapter! My sister just got her chapter done so here you go! I think she did a wonderful job with this chapter. Enjoy and please read and review!

* * *

Chapter 11

Ember sighed and turned off the TV. She was bored and didn't know what to do. So what do you do when you're home alone with a deity? You go bug him. So Em quietly walked down the stairs and into the living room where the god was sitting. Loki was sitting there, reading a book. _Lord of the Rings_ to be precise.

She sighed and sat on the couch next to him, and just sat there, looking at the wall.

Apparently this was annoying Loki because he closed the book with a loud 'bang' and looked at her. "What do you want?"

Em raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "What makes you think I want something?"

He just glared at her.

"Right. I want to do something! I'm bored!"

"Well, that's not my problem."

"Oh I'll make it your problem! Please!"

He gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. What?"

Em took a minute to think. "A board game?"

"No."

"A game?"

"No."

"Wii games?"

"No."

"Want to watch _Lord of the Rings: Return of the King_?"

"No. I haven't finished reading the book."

"FINE! Read to me!"

He gave her an odd look, surprised a little. "What?!"

Ember frowned at him. "Last time you read to me, it was fun and I've never slept better."

Loki gave her a look and Em face palmed. "That didn't come out how I planned. You know what, forget that, just read."

He nodded and started reading. That was surprising. It normally took her forever to get Loki to do something. But recently, they've been getting along better, she supposed.

After a few minutes of Loki reading, he stopped and Ember frowned again. She wasn't tired one bit. Of course not. She hadn't been able to sleep well for a long time. Ever since… NO! Ember couldn't let her think like that. She would just get depressed and that's far from what she wanted.

Apparently that didn't work because Loki noticed. "Ember? What's on your mind?"

Ember shook her head and looked at the wall again. "Nothing."

"You really think you can trick the master trickster?"

Ember huffed and sighed again. "Well… you know about my family right?"

He nodded. Niki had told him a brief back story as to why the girls lived together, but he never really got the full picture.

"Niki told you?"

"Yes, but not much."

"That's what I thought. You see, that week, I had this tournament that was really important to my team and I was really needed. Unfortunately, we had a trip planned that we couldn't pass up. Mom and Dad said that I could stay at home, that a babysitter would come after a day. They left," her voice started to crack but her face stayed straight, "they left, telling me they would come back after three or four days. They promised."

She started getting somewhat angry. "But no! They didn't come back! The freakin plane crashed, and they… they're all gone! Now, it's only Niki and me now! We are the last of the Sorensons. I don't have a mom anymore… I don't have a father, or brother, or my other sister. Niki… she's like my mom. Father figures? Haha, no. I know Niki plans on getting married someday, she's always been that type, but I don't. I really don't plan on it." Tears started falling down her face and she buried her head in her hands.

Loki lowered his head. He didn't know all of this. Most of it he did but… how could he? A part of him felt sorry for the two girls. They always seem so… alive. They must try really hard to seem content. Niki never complained and was always looking out for Ember. Ember was doing the same for Niki and tried hard to stay out of trouble. He admired their ability to hold on and adapt to the hard times.

He reached over and hugged Ember, comforting her little as she cried silently. They just sat like that until Niki came home a few minutes later.


	14. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Okay, this took forever cuz I was waiting on my sister. But! It's the cutest chapter ever and I love her for it! I hope you all love it as much as I do! It's so sweet! Enjoy and review!

* * *

Chapter 13

When Niki got home, she asked to see Ember in her room. Loki thought nothing of it and as Ember got up he opened his book and began reading again. But he couldn't read. Ember's story kept finding a way to get back into his mind, repeating itself. He even at one time tried picturing event by event. It was too horrible so he stopped.

Just when he was about to get up and go to his room, he heard yelling coming from Niki's room. And soon after that, vulgar language entered the conversation and spiraled downward from that point on.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD EVEN CONSIDER THAT!" Ember yelled, startling Loki.

"IT WAS JUST A FUCKING IDEA!" Niki replied, just as loud as her sibling.

"WELL THAT'S A PRETTY DUMBASS IDEA IF YOU ASK ME! SOMETHING TELLS ME HE WAS DRUNKER THAN HELL!"

"MAYBE HE WAS, AND MAYBE HE WASN'T! YOU DON'T KNOW!"

The badgering and bickering kept going on and on and on. Loki was beginning to get worried. The two haven't ever really fought like this before, especially Niki. He's heard Ember curse a few times but not this much and especially not in front of Niki. Silently, Loki wondered what the idea was. He wouldn't ask; he knew that he'd find out eventually. Or so he hoped.

Ember stomped out, slamming the door behind her, growled and went up the stairs, her heavy footsteps echoing throughout the house. Niki came out as soon as Ember had loudly closed the door to her room. Sighing in frustration, Niki sat down on the couch next to Loki.

"That child!" she said. "She's… she's so stubborn."

"Not too much different from her older sister." Loki said, turning the page.

"Thanks. I don't know what I'm going to do…"

"About?"

"Well…" another sigh. "Can you just go talk to her?"

He raised an eyebrow. She gave him the puppy dog face that she mastered years ago. Loki sighed, closed his book and stood. "Fine."

Walking up the stairs, he tried to think of what to say to Ember despite the fact he didn't know a single thing about the fight. Carefully, he knocked on the door. "Ember?"

"What do you want?" she asked harshly from inside her room.

"I just want to talk."

At first there was silence, then the door opened a crack and Loki stepped in to find Ember sitting on her bed, a pillow in her arms. Her glare was directed toward the floor.

"Ember? What happened?" he asked after he shut the door behind him and sat down next to her.

Silence.

"Em, I'm here to help. Now tell me what happened."

She looked at him. "Well, apparently, at the party Tony came up to my sister and they started talking about marriage. He apparently was trying to… get engaged to her? I guess. Anyway, either way, he hinted that he and my sis should get married." Another growl escaped her lips. "At first she said no, but now she's considering getting married, saying that I need a fatherly figure. I say heck no. I don't need a father. I've made it this far without one, I can carry on." She sighed. "Course then again she wants to. I want her to, but not for my sake. I don't want her getting stuck with the wrong man for my sake."

Loki just listened. This was odd, especially for Niki.

Ember stood in front of him, looking him in the eye. "You should go talk to her, talk her out of it."

"What?! Why me?!"

She rolled her eyes. "Good grief. You don't think it's THAT obvious do you?"

"What?"

"You like my sister! It's plain as day. She might be a little too ditzy to realize it, or she's just overworked, either way. I see it all the time! You look at her with big green eyes, listen to every word she says. You really like her! Normally, I would have a problem with that. But for some reason, I don't. I have no clue how you're the exception but somehow, you are. Go talk her out of it! Because I know you don't like the idea of her marrying Stark or anyone else either!"

He could not believe it. He thought he was hiding it well. Apparently not, Ember had caught him. He DID like Niki. She was kind to him, she paid attention to him. She was intelligent, had good taste in books, funny, and just a good person to be around. She and her sister didn't mind being around a blue monster. She was everything he imagined. Loki had tried to hide it, knowing he would be badgered by both Ember and Thor, but it didn't work, or at least, not for Ember. She caught it. Smart kid. He stood and walked to the door. "I… there's not much I can do. If I told her not to, I'm not sure she would listen… it's none of my business anyway." With that he left, seeing out of the corner of his eye, Ember glaring daggers at him.

No, he didn't want Niki to marry Tony. That would be terrible for all three of them. Niki would be miserable because she didn't truly love Tony. Ember didn't like Tony all that much in the first place. And Loki himself would be kicked out, sent to S.H.I.E.L.D. to be kept away and treated like dirt. That was the least of his worries though. He did love Niki. Or so he thought it was love. He didn't want her to be miserable.

But he couldn't do a thing about it. Like he told Ember, he had no place in this.


	15. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Hehehe, I feel evil after writing this chapter. :) Let us know what you think!

* * *

Chapter 14

_Come on, talk to her._ Ember squinted with one eye squeezed shut as she peered through the door. Everything was perfect. Now the idiot just had to talk to the bigger idiot and everything would work out. At least that's what she hoped.

It had been three days since Ember and Niki fought and for those past three days Loki had actively been avoiding Niki. Finally Ember had had enough and after yelling at him to get in there, she had shoved him into Niki's office/dining room and shut the door. Now the Norse god was pulling up a chair next to Niki's computer and pulling off her headphones that had blocked out all the yelling done previously.

_Convenient_, Ember thought. _Now if he'll just talk to her and if she'll be smart and see what's sooooo obvious, we'll be fine._

Adjusting her crouched position she mentally hushed herself as Loki began talking to her sister.

"Ember told me what you two fought about," he said without preamble.

_Well, that's not how I would have started that but alright. If he wants to jump in the deep end…._

"Oh," Niki replied and rubbed her eyes from staring at the screen for so long. "I'm surprised she did. So did she send you here to talk me out of it? Because she clearly got her point across last time we spoke."

"Well, in a way," Loki confessed, looking away. "But not quite in the way you expect I'm sure."

"What? By telling me it's stupid? Or that Tony Stark is the biggest waste of time? That I am perfectly aware of and he was just what put that idea into my mind! There is no way I'd ever…"

"No," he interrupted. "I believe she voiced that opinion very well on her own."

"Ug, you have no idea, that child!"

"But that's not wh…"

Niki interrupted again going on about how Ember "cussed me out at said that if Tony Stark ever set foot on our, _our_ property, the little shit. It's my property, she just happens to live here! It's only a minor miracle that I was able to become her legal guardian at all!"

_Would you just shut up and let the man talk! And hey! Watch it! I am just as aware of how lifeless you were before I made you make friends! So I don't wanna…_

"Would you let me finish," Loki interrupted again putting a finger to her rambling lips. "Your sister pointed out something to me that I thought I had done a very good job concealing. Apparently I wasn't hiding it well enough because she saw it and I'm glad she told me about this before something regrettable happened."

"Niki Sorenson, for the past 8 months I have lived with you and your sister. You two have an astounding relationship that makes _me_, of all people, jealous."

Outside the door, Ember bit her lip to keep from shouting, cheering the god of mischief on.

"Only recently has Ember allowed me and I allow her to grow close to each other. But you, Niki, you have never turned me away. You accepted me as soon as I explained my situation. Never asking, never arguing. You simply accepted me. That alone would have been enough but you continued to surprise me. When I showed my true form, you didn't run and hide, you didn't hand me over to SHIELD. You sat there and waited for me. There is no way I could ever repay you for what you've done for me and there's no way I could ever thank you enough. So listen when I tell you this."

_Here it comes!_ Ember smothered her enormous grin with her hands, holding back her joy and laughter.

"Do not settle for just anyone. Not Tony Stark, not a common man off the street. You deserve so much more." Leaning forward, he kissed the startled young woman on the cheek, got up, and left through the sliding glass door.

Out in the hall there came a loud thud as Ember fell and hit her head on the door.


	16. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Heh, well I planned on writing more over Spring Break but... Well, I was distracted by a fun game of Plants Vs. Zombies that I finished in 3 days... That's kinda sad... Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 15

"What was that about," Niki murmured to herself, ignoring the thud from the hall. It was either the cat, the dog, or Ember and considering what just happened, it was probably her nosey little sister. Slowly she stood and leaned against the frame of the glass door, staring after the god of mischief who had taken up residence in her house. Slowly he grew smaller until he vanished into the tree line.

With a sigh she flopped back down in her chair and tried to focus on work again but to no avail. She sat their puzzling on why she was so distracted, chucking a pencil across the room in frustration. It bounced off the door only to come flying back as the door burst open and Ember came flying in.

"What the hell was that," Ember yelled.

"What the hell was what?"

"Why did you just let him leave?"

"What was I supposed to do? What was that about anyway?"

Ember buried her face in her hands, groaning before leaning in towards her sister. "You are the thickest, most naïve, nimrod I've ever known! Can't you see that Loki's in love with you? He has been for a while! It's so painfully obvious!"

"W-what?" Niki leaned back, blinking in surprise at her young sister. "No, that's impossible. Why would he ever… I'm not…. What?"

"My gosh, have you always been this thick? Why do you think he was in here? I don't know why he said that whole bullshit about 'not settling for anyone' because he's the best you could ever hope for, and that's a lot coming from me."

Breathless, Niki sat there, thinking about the last several months. True she always thought the Norse deity was attractive, much more so that his blonde brother. But she never looked for any return affection so she never showed any. She always assumed he'd never find anything attractive about a human girl like her, not after living in Asgard and seeing as much as he had.

"W-why me? What am I supposed to do? I'm…. I'm not…."

"Good heavens woman," Ember yelled again and, pulling her sister's arm, yanked her out of the chair, shoved her out the door, and locked it pointing in the direction Loki had taken.

"What am I supposed to do," she yelled back at her sister.

Ember pointed again and shut the curtain. Huffing, Niki shoved her hands in her jean pockets and marched off in the direction of the trees. Soon she was in the belt itself, wandering aimlessly, kicking any twig or stone that crossed her path. She jumped when one of the stones gave a loud, "Ow!"

"Oh! I'm sorry, oh! It's you," Niki gasped. "I'm so sorry!"

There was Loki who'd apparently been sitting on a stump and apparently she'd just kicked the toe of his shoe.

"I guess I don't mind, you look like you have a lot on your mind," he said gazing up at her.

"You could say that again." She dropped to the ground next to him. There was a long pause that involved Niki throwing pebbles at trees but it wasn't long before they were no more so she sat there hugging her knees.

"Care to share," Loki asked finally making her jump.

"Well, heh, Ember told me some things," she answered evasively.

"Oh really? What things? Will I have to intercede again?"

"Oh don't worry," she chuckled dryly. "She already did."

"Did what?" Then his expression became grave and almost, if she didn't know him better, slightly fearful. "What did she say?"

Niki shifted awkwardly and poked at the dirt. "Well… she said…. Ah, well I'm…."

"Would you spit it out already? I need to decide if I need to strangle your sister or not."

"Not if I don't first," she muttered. Again she paused before screwing her face up and blurting out like a Junior High girl. "She said you were in love with me!"

This time the silence was _very_ awkward.

"She… she really told you that?"

Niki had spun around to face the opposite direction and now bolted up, brushing off dirt and stammering, "Of course that's impossible. She must have been trying to pull a prank on me, trying to get me worked up. I mean, why you would ever, well, I mean, it's me and I'm not, ah….I'll just…"

"I swear I'm going to kill that brat if it's the last thing I do." Cheeks turning a faint shade of pink, the Norse deity leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.

"Look, it's alright, I know she wasn't right." Niki stood a ways off, crossing her arms for warmth. "It wouldn't make sense would it?"

He huffed but didn't look at her. "Yeah, I guess so."

They stood/sat there before there came a loud yell and Ember burst in. "Do I have to explain everything to both of you?!"

The two jumped and Loki stood, towering over Ember.

"Why did you tell her," he yelled.

"Because it's obvious and you weren't telling her. And you," the younger said, spinning to face her sister. "Stop thinking what I know you're thinking. It's not true."

"What is she thinking," Loki asked curious and slightly afraid.

"She's thinking," Ember explained crossly. "That it can't possibly be true because she's 'not good enough' and 'not pretty enough' for you because you lived in spectacular places like Asgard all your life."

Shocked and with a slightly pained expression he looked at the elder Sorenson sister. "Truly? You think that?"

Niki stood there face red and hands shoved in her pockets staring at the ground. That was all it took. Ember quickly moved out of the way as Loki rushed over grabbing Niki's arm, leaning down to look her in the face.

_My work here is done… Finally,_ Ember thought and left with a satisfied smirk on her face.


	17. Chapter 16

Author's Note: It has been a very long time and I am so very sorry. I though my sister (who consequently is now on [Ember Sorenson]) was writing the next chapter. Just kidding! So here we go, let me know what you think and sorry for the wait!

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Chapter 16

The world seemed to fade to a narrow tunnel as Niki's gaze went from her retreating sister to the god rushing towards her. A small voice inside told her to be realistic and not to entertain the idea of this wonderful, pained, and recovering man loving her. But her little sister had done her work too well; the little spark of hope was kindling the long forgotten fuel in Niki's heart. Still, there was no way really. Why would someone like _him_ be interested in someone like _her_?

She was jolted out of her dwelling when Loki grabbed her, making her jump a bit in surprise. Her gaze snapped up to his and was immediately held there. After a pause where she could almost physically feel his eyes searching hers he said in a whisper, "You really do."

This woke her from her daze and for some reason put her on the defensive. "Well of course I do," she snapped. "Why wouldn't I? I have no reason to think I would stand out in anyway especially compared to the _beauties_ that I'm sure dwell on Asgard. Besides, I've read enough stories and myths to know that _I_ am nothing special."

"If you believe those stories or any of the rest of that drivel you just spouted, than you are more foolish than I thought," he bit back before straightening and taking a calming breath. This was not how this conversation should continue. If he was going to bare his heart to this incredible young woman then he was going to do it properly and not in anger. With a sigh he gently guided her to the stump he had occupied earlier. "Niki, I want you to listen to me and listen well."

"'m not a child," she mumbled but sat down and was quiet and attentive after.

"Sometimes I wonder," he muttered back and answered her slowly growing grin with one of his own. "I am trying to be serious if it's all the same to you."

Stifling a giggle Niki made as if to lock her lips and throw away the key.

"Thank you." Rolling his eyes at her nod the deity continued, "And hear me out before you interrupt. Earlier I gave you the many reasons why you are so very special and I would appreciate it if you would not disregard my words so much. No interrupting," he warned when the mortal woman opened her mouth. She slowly closed it and waited for him to continue. "I know that's not what you meant but since you clearly ignored them it's the only conclusion I can draw. Niki Sorenson, you must understand how special you truly are." Crouching down in front of her, the pale man took her hands and, holding them between his own, continued with his explanation.

"You clearly have no idea how amazingly simple yet powerful all your reactions to me have been. You have not reacted in fear or anger which is in itself astounding but neither have you broke down my door and forced yourself and your opinions on me. Instead you waited, patiently and calmly. That is more than I could ever have hoped for. And then you have the gall to tell me that you are _not_ special enough?"

Niki had the decency to look ashamed but she still didn't understand. Isn't what she'd done just basic human kindness? Wouldn't anyone else do what she did? Or was she really as naïve as Ember accused her of being sometimes?

"My dear Niki," the Norse god continued reaching up with one hand to cup her cheek. "You are indeed very special and not the least to me. You've done so much not only for me but for your sister. What you've done is amazing; brining up your little sister after a terrible tragedy, putting her good before your own, and then taking a complete stranger for no other reason than that he happened to appear in your house. After all this selfless action, do something selfish and believe me when I tell you you are special. Special enough for me, certainly special enough for Asgard."

Stunned, Niki sat there, her lower lip trembling slightly. Her mind was blank except for that last phrase that kept repeating. _Special enough for me…_ She made several attempts to say something but nothing came out making Loki chuckle then lean up and capture her lips in a soft, chaste kiss.


	18. Author's Note

We are sorry. We have his a massive writing block and not sure what our dramatic climax should be. We've been debating it for awhile now and are no closer to figuring it out. If anyone has something they would like to see happen, be it a fluffy moment, a small side event, or the exciting incident that finally ends this story, please please please let us know. I'm getting really frustrated at this point in time and it's not helping all this damn writers block. It's effecting all my stories at the moment but this one has been delayed waaaaaay too long. So please give us ideas. Thanks for staying faithful!

-Niki


	19. Chapter 17

Author's Note: We did it! New chapter! Finally! But still, let us know if you want to see anything happen and we'll do our best. And let us know what you think of this chapter of course.

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Chapter 17

Clearly, Ember had thought her job was done. That with that kiss, she thought it was a done deal. But no! It was only the start of brand new troubles for the teenage relationship 'expert'. _I'm not even supposed to be dating!_ She had though one day. _Oh well, the job needs to be done. But it's not like they're making it any easier on me though…_

It had been about a week later, Loki and Niki were attempting to avoid each other. But they ultimately failed at that. And whenever they WERE in the same room, and they made eye contact, Niki would quickly look down and blush, and made a quick getaway. If she didn't leave first, then Loki did. Finally, Ember had had it.

Standing, Ember grumbled to herself about how her sister and Loki were acting more like children than she was. She left her room and walked down the stairs, entering Loki's room. "What do you think you're doing?"

Loki looked up at Ember with a raised eyebrow. "I'm reading." He said in an 'isn't-this-obvious?' voice.

"That is NOT what I meant," Ember huffed, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. "I meant, what do you think you're doing to Niki?! You guys haven't done anything!"

"What do you mean?"

"You need to go on a date! Or this whole thing will NEVER work out. It's not just, 'reveal my emotions to you and it'll be alright', no it's not that simple. You need to take her somewhere, make her feel special. Take. Her. On a. Date." Ember said. Those last words were emphasized with a poke in the arm for each syllable.

Loki sighed and nodded. "But what do I do? I have no idea what to do."

Ember started to pace, then sat down on the edge of his bed. "What's your idea of a good time?"

Loki took time to think then whispered in Ember's ear.

"Ember! What-Why the heck are we here?" Niki complained as she drove up to the store that Ember told her to go to.

"Because you need a dress." Ember replied simply, unbuckling and getting out of the car.

"What for?"

"Remember?! Loki asked you on a date."

"Well duh! But why do I need a dress from a fancy place like this?!"

Ember closed her door and walked over to Niki's, opening it for her. She looked at Niki. "Just get out. Loki wants to take you to a nice dance. So come on."

Natasha was there waiting for them. Ember had asked her to come along too, she would have more experience with this kind of thing, and the red head would be able to 'convince' Niki to get one of the dresses that they would find. Nat was glad to help. She was happy that Niki was FINALLY getting together with someone, even if it was Loki. Unlike some of the other Avengers, including her husband, Natasha was acknowledging that Loki was changing. The spy had recognized that he wasn't the same as he once was. He was… broken and slowly mending in the care of these two sisters.

They entered the extravagant store and Niki immediately felt out of place. The place was full of expensive looking dresses and outfits. Ember and Natasha dragged her over to a section full of dresses on sale to try to make her more comfortable. Shifting through the dresses, she found about one or two that she thought she might like, but some of the ones she chose were just to keep Ember and Nat to shut up.

"Um… no," Ember said when Niki stepped out of the dressing room with a light blue, empire waist gown on. It was silky, strapless, and floor length.

"What?! Why not?" Niki asked, astonished. She actually kind of liked this one.

"It's not you."

Niki looked over at Natasha who nodded in agreement. "Sorry Niki. It's not you. I think you should go with a darker color."

"Fine." Niki huffed, stepping back into the dressing room. She looked at the price tag and immediately dropped it, removed the dress and put it in the 'no' pile. _These might be a little expensive…_

After about 20 other dresses, Niki stepped out of the dressing room with a floor length, emerald green dress. It had no sleeves, a high close collar and was very flowy from the waist down. It had a slit in the green material along the right leg, revealing a close fitting but unrestricting underskirt of golden material. It looked very elegant and it looked good on Niki.

"Yes!" Ember squealed. "Yes! A thousand times yes! I love it! It's SOOOOOO you!"

Natasha smiled. "I agree! It looks very nice. I say go for it."

They had purchased the dress and shoes that went with it, and had gone home. By the end of the day, Niki was glad to be home.

Loki greeted them when they got home and wanted to see the dress but Ember forced him away.

"Ah-ah-ah! No looking until tonight." Ember said, pushing Niki into her room. "Shower and get ready. You have three hours to get ready."

_Weird how she knows more about my date than I do…_ Niki thought, hopping into the shower. _Hopefully, this night will go well…_

She didn't get long. Soon Natasha, who had followed them home, was banging on the door yelling at her to get out so she could do her hair and make-up. Grumbling, the older sister sat to endure an hour of hair pulling, brow tweaking, eye watering torture as the spy prepared her. Finally, hair piled on top of her hear and gold jewelry accenting just so, the older sister was ready. Tasha helped her into her dress and left to check on Ember and Loki. Carefully Niki sat down, trying her damnedest to topple over and ruin all her friends' hard work. Nerves were making her knees weak and the heels weren't helping.

_Dancing,_ she thought. _Why dancing? I don't know how to dance let alone be graceful and beautiful. What am I doing?_ _Making a fool of myself in front of…._ She blushed even at the thought of the deity anymore. Her hands were shaking when the door opened and Natasha came back in. "They're ready… Niki what's wrong?" The ex-Russian crouched down in front of her friend taking the newly manicured hands in hers and looking up at her. "You're afraid. Of what?"

"Nat, I have no idea what I'm doing," Niki let out in a trembling voice. "I don't know how to dance, I'm not a graceful person, and I don't know a thing about _dating_!"

Smiling softly the Avenger helped Niki to her feet. "You do realize that Loki didn't fall in love with your dancing or your grace. He loves you for being you. Don't worry about how graceful you are or are not. He honestly won't care. He'll take care of you. And you look stunning. I should know, I helped. Now come on, Loki's waiting." Natasha opened the door and Niki, taking a deep breath and giving her friend a shaky smile, walked out into the living room.

"By the Nine."


	20. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Okay, this time it's my fault. I am so, so sorry. I thought this would be a boring summer where I had no life and wrote chapters non-stop but then I got something of a life and stories got put on hold. So again I am so sorry. But here's a new chapter finally and please let us know what you think of it! It's mushy for the first half and probably underwhelming in the last but please tell me what you think. Thank you so much for staying faithful dear readers!

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Chapter 18

_Don't look at your feet; don't look at your feet, if you look at your feet you'll fall._ Niki kept repeating this mantra to herself as Loki led her from the table where they had just finished eating out onto the elegant dance floor. Several other very beautiful and very rich looking couples were already there and her feeling of inadequacy and displacement grew exponentially. Her breathing was beginning to quicken and her heart was pounding audibly, she was sure of it. So far the evening had been going along fantastically. They had finally relaxed around each other enough to begin small talk which grew into friendly chatting and blossomed into deep and serious conversation. The meal had been amazing and wine superb but the orchestra had gradually pulled people from their tables out onto the floor and now it was tugging on Niki and Loki. At first she had started to protest but the demigod simply smiled and continued to hold out his hand. Finally she took it and was trying to calm herself but was failing miserably. Then her feet were on the floor and her absolutely stunning date was deftly turning her to face him.

He had seen her fear the moment he asked her to dance and he had been fully prepared for it. While it had taken a good deal of prodding to actually get him to take her on this date, once Loki set his mind on it there was no stopping him from claiming this amazing woman's heart. His hand never left hers as he placed his other hand on the small of her back. "Niki," he murmured. "Look at me." It took a gentle squeeze and another request before she finally looked up at him, her fear rolling off her. "Don't think about the others. Don't look down. Just look at me." Slowly they began to turn.

Niki's lips parted in a silent gasp as she locked eyes with her (he was hers now) dark haired deity and could not look away even if she wanted to. But she didn't want to. Everything else dropped away and all that mattered was the hand at her back and those dark green eyes. The orchestra didn't matter, the other people who were now staring at them didn't matter, and her former insecurities didn't matter either.

What they were missing while they danced, or at least Niki missed, was the rest of the dancers stopping to watch them elegantly sweep across the floor as the orchestra continued to play not wanting to interrupt the beautiful dance. They missed a few Prima Doña's leaving in a huff dragging their escorts along after them. And they almost missed the wall of windows shattering as a massive green serpent crashed through. That was more than enough to pull them out of their own little world and back into the present.

The snake was massive with a frilled head and teeth the size of street lights. Its yellow eyes searched before spotting the couple that had previously held the attention of the whole room. Ignoring the screaming people it reared up to brush the vaulted ceiling before slowly arching down. Only then did Niki see the blonde woman in green perched on top of the monstrous head. Stopping a yard away the pink tongue flicked out as the woman dropped down and slowly sashayed across the remaining distance. When the windows had first come crashing down Loki had stepped in front of Niki. Now he remained in front of her, bristling with annoyance and anger. "Enchantress," he spat once the blonde was close. Far too close for Niki's comfort.

"Loki dear," she cooed in a sickly sweet voice. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me."

"Unlikely," the dark haired man snorted. "But it was never a pleasant memory in the first place."

The Enchantress clucked her tongue at him but Niki was temporarily distracted by the large burly man just descending from the snake. "You are hard to please. How this mortal has I haven't the faintest idea."

Loki stiffened. "What do you want Amora?"

"I," she asked with feigned innocence, a hand flying to her chest. "I want nothing. No, I am here to leave a message and collect a prize." She sauntered up to him, leaning forward to play with his tie. "Someone is very unhappy with you. I haven't been told everything but I did not need much incentive to come see you." She winked. "They'll be sending another message soon but for now…" With that she trailed off and disappeared in a wisp of light green smoke just in time for the large burly man Niki had seen earlier come charging at Loki.

Suddenly there was a long spear in Loki's hands and his formal suit was slowly being replaced by Asgardian armor. The Executioner's axe clanged loudly against the metal spear and Loki shoved it aside to bring the end up intending to smash it in the others face but it was blocked by an arm and the axe was swung again this time in a sweeping motion. Planting the pointed end against the floor the smaller god used it to vault over the axe and land behind his opponent but his cape was caught in a meaty fist and he was yanked forward. Or would have been but as soon as the hand fisted in his cape, Loki disappeared only to be seen a few feet away sending a binding spell at the bald man. Unfortunately the man charged right through it but Loki again disappeared only to reappear somewhere else.

This continued for another twenty minutes when suddenly the Executioner stopped, smirked, and disappeared in the same green smoke as the Enchantress. Startled, Loki quickly looked around but everyone was gone. He looked again but it was still the same. Everyone was gone. Everyone.


End file.
